Through the Keyhole

I'm joining Holistic Mama's Through the Keyhole ("real people, real homes") for the first time this week. This time the theme is a real-life view of our coffee tables and how we use them. This is ours, which is actually a Japanese kotatsu, or heater table. Japanese homes can be quite chilly and drafty in winter. Our Japanese house had large, single-paned windows and no insulation, so during the cold months (which thankfully weren't that many or all that cold in our part of Japan), we would sit on pillows on the floor under this table, which has a quilt that sandwiches between the top and the base (we remove it during warmer months). You sit under the quilt and turn on the heating element under the table. It's quite cozy. 

Now that we're in Germany and have a woodstove right by the table, we don't really need the heater part, but it's still nice to sit under the quilt. We often eat dinner, Japanese-style, here, which is why there are place mats. It's also often a study center for my kids and the place where I have breakfast and get on my laptop every morning next to my trusty hund, Yoshi. Oh, and there's usually a stack of books atop; right now the titles are Gypset, Garden Anywhere, MaryJane's Outpost, and The Idle Parent. Our coffee table is a happenin' place, indeed.